This invention relates to canopy luminaries, and more particularly to canopy luminaries mounted to a horizontal mounting member which may be mounted by one individual without requiring the use of tools.
Canopy luminaire assemblies are used in many areas, such as for gas stations, restaurant drive-through windows, and other areas where over-head lighting is desirable. Such assemblies generally require control gear, such as ballast, capacitors, and starters, to regulate the lighting. A housing is used to hold and protect the control gear as well as the light source, and is generally mounted to the support structure.
To mount existing luminaires, an opening must be made in the canopy in which the luminaire is to be mounted. The opening must be sized to receive the housing. The luminaire is mounted to the horizontal portion of the support structure. Cutting an opening and installing the luminaire are labor intensive, which may require a number of electricians and tools, resulting in high costs for installation.
Current designs have the ballast located within the housing with other components of the luminaire, including the light source. As a result the operation temperature of the ballast and the control gear is increased due to exposure to the light source. The useful life of the components is reduced, and the components must be replaced more often. This replacement would be expensive due to the high installation costs.
Another feature of existing luminaires is that the light source is often mounted within the mounting structure. This feature has the drawback that half of the light from the light source emanates upward, thereby degrading the amount of light from the luminaire. Although reflectors may be used to deflect some of the light emanating upward, a large portion of the light from the light source is lost.
Another drawback is that it is difficult to replace the light source in existing luminaires The lens is generally connect by fasteners, such as screws or bolts. Thus, to change the light source, an individual must use a ladder to change the light source. While on the ladder, an individual must undue the fasteners, release the lens, replace the light source, and refasten the lens. This process can be cumbersome and time consuming.
These and other drawbacks exist.
An object of the invention is to overcome these and other drawbacks in existing devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly, which provides a ballast housing that rest entirely on a canopy, while a lower portion, comprising the lighting components, is disposed on an opposite side of the canopy.
A further object of this invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly, where a ballast housing contains at least a socket on one side of a canopy, and a lower portion containing a reflector, a bulb, and a lens on the other side of the canopy, with the lighting fixture assembly operatively connected to the socket.
A further object of this invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly where a rotating locking cam is used to tighten draw clamp brackets which are attached to a lower portion, and which are disposed on the opposite side of the canopy from the lower portion.
A further object of this invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly where a hinge is located on a lens, thereby allowing a lower portion to be opened by an individual by pushing the latch to open a lens, and access a light source.
A further object of the invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly where a hinge is incorporated into the material of a lower portion, and more specifically, a lens.
A further object of the invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly, whereby the attachment of a lower portion and a ballast section permits rotation and orientation of the lower portion with respect to the ballast section.
A further object of the invention is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly, where draw clamp brackets which snap to ballast notches located within a ballast housing are used to temporarily retain a lower portion until a locking mechanism, such as a locking cam, may be used to permanently retain a lower portion to a ballast housing.
A further object is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly, where electrical wiring is connected to a ballast housing by way of a slot in a ballast housing, a conduit having a locking member, and a conduit gasket that slides into the slot in ballast housing.
A further object is to provide a canopy luminaire assembly, where an individual user can attach a ballast section and lower portion to a canopy without the aid of other individuals and without requiring any tools.
Accordingly, a canopy luminaire may be provided according to an embodiment of the present invention. The canopy luminaire may comprise a lower portion for receiving a light emitting source and an upper housing that stores the electrical components of the luminaire. The lower portion has a base portion disposed against the canopy with a latch attachment portion, a lens secured to a base portion by a hinge mechanism that permits the lens to open with respect to the base portion, and a latch connected to the base portion and having a connecting portion for connecting the base portion to the lens. The upper housing is disposed above the canopy. A bracket is attached to the base portion and extends up through an aperture in the canopy and connects to an inner wall of an apertured portion of the upper housing to secure the lower portion to the upper housing. The upper housing may have extending deck supports to support the weight of the upper housing on ribs of the canopy. A locking cam is provided to secure the bracket to the upper housing. The upper housing has a slot having an inner wall, an outer wall, and a gap disposed between the inner and outer walls so that a conduit having a stop at the connecting end may slide into the slot with a gasket disposed thereon to fill up the gap and provide a secure, sealed tool-less attachment of the conduit.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a canopy luminaire assembly may comprise a lower portion disposed below the canopy for receiving a light emitting source and an upper housing disposed above the canopy having disposed therein a ballast and a lamp socket. The light emitting source from the lower portion extends up through an aperture in the canopy and connects to the lamp socket in the upper housing. An attachment mechanism is attached to the lower portion, extends up through the aperture in the canopy and connects to the upper housing.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the canopy luminaire comprises a lower portion for receiving a light emitting source and an upper housing disposed above the canopy. The upper housing comprises an aperture disposed in the bottom portion formed by walls on the interior of the upper housing with the walls having a receiving portion for receiving a bracket portion. A bracket is connected to the lower portion and the upper housing, wherein the bracket comprises a portion that cooperates with the receiving portion in the upper housing to secure the bracket to the walls of the upper housing.
According to another embodiment, a canopy luminaire comprises a lower portion disposed below the canopy for receiving a light emitting source and an upper housing disposed above the canopy. An attachment mechanism attaches to the lower portion and the upper housing through the aperture in the canopy. The position where the attachment mechanism is secured to the lower housing is movable so that the orientation between the lower portion and the upper housing may be altered.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the canopy luminaire assembly disposed below the canopy comprises a base portion disposed against the canopy with a latch attachment portion. A lens is secured to the base portion by a hinge mechanism that permits the lens to open with respect to the base portion. A latch is connected to the base portion and has a connecting portion for connecting the base portion to the lens.
According to another embodiment, a canopy luminaire assembly comprises a base portion secured to a ceiling, a glass lens that has a hinge boss as part of the glass lens, a hinge connected to the hinge boss on the lens and to the base portion to permit the lens to open with respect to the base portion, and a latch connecting the base portion to the hinge to retain the lens to the base portion.
According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a canopy luminaire comprises a housing for supporting one or more electrical lighting components having one or more wires. The housing comprises a slot having an inner wall, an outer wall, and a gap disposed between the inner and outer walls. A conduit for supplying wiring for the electrical connections has a stop at one end. A gasket is disposed around the end of the conduit. The end of the conduit, the stop and the gasket slide into the slot between the inner and outer wall to fill the gap disposed there between. A cover is then placed over the slot to enclose the gasket within the gap and thereby provide a sealed and secure connection of the conduit to the housing.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a luminaire assembly comprises a base portion secured to a ceiling, a lens connected to the base portion and a glass filled polyester bezel disposed around the edge of the lens to cover the upper portion of the lens and the base portion.
These and other objects of the invention will be described in further detail in the accompanying drawings and specification.